Convalescence
by PimpMasta Popo
Summary: What if all your life was a lie? What if it was all just a dream? What if you woke up to find you have no family and you've lost the only love you'll ever find... [GokuxChichi]
1. Chapter I

Disclaimer - I don't own it.

AN: Had a weirdo idea. Hope you all enjoy it.

****

Convalescence 

Steam rose from the small house. This was no unusual occurrence. Son Chichi was cooking dinner for her family. Eight months had passed since the final defeat of Buu. 

"But Mo-mmy!" eight year old Goten whined, giving her his best pout.

Chichi stared intently at her youngest. "Goten, what did I tell you?"

Goten pouted for a minute then hung his head, knowing his mother had won the battle. "I have to finish my chores before I go out with Trunks." he said lamely. 

She nodded satisfactorily. "That's right."

Gohan sat there, reading his book. "Letting him off a little easy, Mom." he commented not looking up. 

"Oh shut up, Gohan." Goten said shooting his older brother a glare. 

Chichi smiled and looked at Goten. "No, no. You're right, Gohan. All right, Goten, you're not allowed to leave this house until you win a Nobel peace prize."

Gohan and Chichi laughed while Goten looked crestfallen. "But Mommy, I don't even know what that is!!"

Chichi smiled and patted his head. "I know, sweetie." She kissed his forehead. "tell you what, after dinner, you can go. Is that a deal?"

Goten perked up and smiled, giving his mother a hug. "Yeah!"  


She smiled as well. "Now go wash up for dinner." Goten obeyed and left the room. 

Silence befell the room. Chichi stirred the soup and looked out the window. "Where is your father…" she sighed.

Gohan looked up from his book. "He'll be here. You know him."

Chichi smiled and scoffed. "Yeah, I sure do." She stirred the soup some more. "That I do." she repeated absentmindedly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goku stood defiantly. He eyed his enemy. His stance was sharp, ready for any sort of attack.

His attacker, however…. Looked scared beyond belief. 

"Come on now, You're dinner." Goku said to the fearful dinosaur. The dinosaur shook his head and ran away, knocking over several trees in it's wake. 

Goku sighed and turned his back on the falling forest. Small leaves and branches fell around him. He looked up to the darkening sky just in time to see a tree falling, heading straight for him. Due to his quick thinking, he dodged it just in time. Breathing a sigh of relief, Goku smiled and closed his eyes, just as another tree fell and hit him on the head.

Goku fell to the ground, unconscious. 

************

It was dark. The only sound Goku could hear was a buzzing noise. It was like a fly was buzzing outside of his ear. He moved to swipe it away, finding he didn't have control over his arms. He looked around. It was pitch black. Dormant feelings of fear, worry, paranoia swelled in his chest. Where was his family? The last thing he remembered was being in a forest. Was he in bed? Did he have a bad headache? Was this a dream?

That had to be it. This must've been a dream. He figured that he must've gone home, fallen asleep and he's dreaming. He looked at the endless black with confidence. This was temporary. It was a bad dream. 

"… Goku?"

He heard his name. He looked around frantically. There was no one there. It sounded like a woman. It had to be Chichi. "Chichi?" He called, beckoning her to show herself. 

"Oh my god…" he heard the voice again. 

"Chichi?" he called. The pitch black remained, hindering any kind of vision. 

"He's awake!" he heard the voice again.

He scratched his head. If he was sleeping late, boy was he in for it. "I'm sorry I slept late, Chichi." 

He heard a rustle of papers and someone taking off running. Suddenly there was a light. He had regained his vision. Everything was blurred together. He saw … blue. 

"Goku, can you hear me?"

Suddenly he found his mouth dry, his throat scratchy and he was unable to move his mouth. He could only nod. He opened his eyes more as his vision focused a bit. 

He heard a breathless laugh. "Oh my god, you're alive!"

"Yeah," he found he could whisper. 

Finally his vision cleared and he saw the speaker.

"Bulma?" he said, blinking hard. 

She smiled and laughed. "You remember me!" she cried, hugging him. 

"Where am I?"

"At the hospital." Bulma answered vaguely, not able to get her answers straight, at the joy of seeing Goku awake. 

Goku nodded. "How long have I been out?"

Bulma suddenly looked somber. "You were in a car crash about three years ago. They took you into the hospital. You've been in a coma for three years."  


Goku's mind was spinning. "Three years?" he breathed heavily. Instantly he thought of his family. "My god… was my family hurt?"

Bulma eyed his strangely. "Family?"

"Yeah, Chichi, Gohan, Goten, are they all right?" Goku demanded harshly. 

"Goku… You don't have any family." Bulma nodded. "Look, the doctor said this might happen. He said you might dream up a past. Look, Goku." she took his hand. "All of those people you just mentioned, are in your imagination. They don't exist. You dreamed them up. This," Bulma nodded to the hospital room. "Is real life. Your name is Son Goku, you're 32 and you live alone. You don't have a family."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

There it is folks. Hope you enjoyed it. This will eventually turn romantic, so please just stick with me!

PimpMasta Popo


	2. Chapter II

Disclaimer - I don't own Dragonball Z

A/N: I'm glad that you all like this idea and I hope you keep reading.

Convalescence

Goku stared at Bulma, looking crestfallen. Bulma bit her lip and wrung her hands together nervously. This wasn't quite the reaction she'd expected.

"That can't be true," he shook his head at her former statement, as if when he said it, he would make it false.

Her heart broke for him. "It is." she whispered. _Talk about the bearer of bad news…_

He looked at her, desperation in his eyes. "Do I have anyone?"

"You have a good job, a nice house-"

"Do I have anyone?" Goku repeated with more urgency. Bulma licked her lips, finding them uncomfortably dry. She got up, suddenly feeling the need to leave the room. Goku's incessant stare was burning a hole into her. She turned her back on him and walked to the window. She stared out of it. He needed and answer and she knew it.

"No." she finally answered. She didn't turn around. She didn't want to see the effect that it had on him.

"I'm completely alone…" he murmured, with such hopelessness, she was compelled to look at him. She saw a young child in a grown man's body. He looked scared and alone. Almost like he was lost and needed to find his mother.

"Not completely… I mean you have your friends." Bulma supplied, trying to make him feel better.

He looked to her, staring blankly. She knew what that look meant. That wasn't good enough. She knew that.

Goku looked around the hospital room. "So this is real." he said, more of a disappointed statement than a question. Bulma nodded.

"What do I do?" His tone of voice was calm. Collected. A complete change from the shaken tone he had taken on a few moments prior.

"Excuse me?" His question took her off guard.

"Do I work?"

Bulma swallowed. "Yes. You're a stock broker."

Goku's gaze became disjointed again. He looked at the window. "I can't believe this." he whispered, clutching the bed sheets. Bulma looked at him questioningly.

"Tell me," he choked out. "Tell me about myself." He was on the verge of tears. His body convulsed as he fought them back. Bulma sat down next to him.

"Your name is Song Goku."

She saw him smirk. "At least that hasn't changed."

She continued. "You live by yourself. You're a stock broker. You live in New York City. You're my best friend and we've known each other since we were five." She didn't know what else to say. There was nothing else to say. They sat in an awkward silence for what seemed like forever.

Goku spoke up. "Would you like to hear about my life?"

Bulma nodded.

"My name was Song Goku. I met you, when we were young. I don't remember what age we were. We grew close because you wanted the dragon balls and I helped you find them."

Bulma didn't understand, but she let Goku continue.

"I met my wife when were young as well. I promised to marry her then. When I was around seven. Can you believe that? I didn't know what marriage was." Goku's tone was nostalgic, and pained. It cracked with emotion. "We met later at the World Martial Arts Tournament. I didn't recognize her, but she recognized me. After a few trials and tribulations, we got married. Had our first child. I died a few times and came back to life by the dragon balls. That's when we had our second child. I didn't get to see him until he was seven. I was dead. Finally I was brought back to life. Last thing I remembered, I had a family."

He stared at Bulma, a vacant look on his face. "I had a family." he repeated, incase she didn't hear it.

"There's nothing I can do." she murmured. She could provide no solace for him. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't make up for all of these unaccounted memories that he had.

"Can I see her?" he asked. It took Bulma a moment to realize what he was asking.

"Oh, Goku. I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

Why the fuck is everything I tell him bad news? "You're not on the… best terms."

"Why?"

"What are you, two?" Bulma snapped, hands on her hips. She turned away in frustration. Goku lowered his head. He clutched the sheets in his hands, wondering if they still held the same strength. They shared and indomitable silence.

"Look, it's pretty stressful right now…" Bulma said, turning around.

"No kidding." he remarked. As soon as he said the words he didn't recognize them. Had he said that? Where had that sarcasm come from? For the first time, Goku felt a rush of panic. He didn't know who he was. Was he always sarcastic? All he knew was he didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. He turned to apologize, and found Bulma smirking at him.

"Look. I'll call Chichi if you really want, all right? But for now.. Just get some rest."

"I've been resting. I think I've gone and slept too long."

----------------------

"Turn it down!" she yelled from the kitchen. Her hands were submerged in soapy water. Her latest annoyance was that in small parts, her black hair was falling from its bun. She blew upwards trying to get the loose strands out of her eyes. "Dammit." she mumbled as more hair fell out of the bun. She looked towards the family room. That volume was still too loud.

"Gohan!" she called, trying to get her eldest son's attention. A young 13 year old looked out of the corner inquisitively. "Would you ask him to turn it down?"

Gohan nodded. "Mom said 'turn it down!'" was followed by a loud smack and a whiny cry of "Gooooohhhaaaannn!!!"

Chichi hung her head. "That's not what I meant!" she called, drying off her hands on a nearby paper towel and heading for the family room. Gohan was sitting on the couch next to her youngest son, Goten. Goten was trying hard not to pout and had one hand covering his forehead. Chichi stood in the doorway, throwing a reprimanding look at Gohan who smiled and shrugged.

"Are you all right, Goten?" she asked the 7 year old, who just pouted and nodded. "Gohan, don't hit your brother." And with the motherly reprimand, she returned to the kitchen. She never knew where these things she said came from. The day she told Gohan to eat all of his vegetables or he wouldn't get dessert, she found herself sitting at the kitchen table for an hour, wondering where that came from. She didn't say it for another two weeks, fearing she was sounding too much like her mother. She'd never thought she would have been a mother. She was a strong girl, the least likely to have children. But then she met him. And suddenly visions of white weddings and family barbeques danced in her head. She didn't know where they came from. She had never wanted these things before. She found herself looking at baby clothes in catalogs, and found it a bit frightening. She never brought up a baby or a wedding with him. That was… until the night that strip turned pink. The conversation was overly awkward. It started with "I'm pregnant" and ended with shocked look and "good luck with that."

He wasn't the parenting type. She knew that. He was a kid himself. How could he raise one, if he had the maturity level of a 9 year old. She knew she was better off raising them by herself. Sure, it would attract weird questions and ever weirder looks when everyone found out who their father was. But it was worth it.

"Mom?"

"Hm?"

"Phone for you. It's Bulma."

"Thank you, Gohan." She picked up the phone. Bulma hadn't called in years. They had briefly known each other as mutual friends through him, but never really talked. Only after he'd gone into the coma had they ever had a conversation longer than 5 words. Bulma had called her the day it happened. Chichi knew she was supposed to be sad. And she was. But that small part of her knew he had gotten what was coming to him. Bulma knew it too. Bulma knew all the terrible things he had done and sympathized with Chichi. Bulma knew the unrepairable damage that had been done to their relationship.

"Hello?"

"Chichi? It's Bulma."

"Hello."

"I have some…" she struggled to find the right word. "news for you."

Chichi swallowed hard.

"Chichi… he's awake."

She tried to find her voice. It came out in a shaky whisper. "And?"

"He's asking for you."

"Me?"

"He wants to see you."

She could hardly believe it. After all this time, all those fights between them… he wanted to see her? "All right. When should I come?"

"Anytime you want."

"I'll be there tomorrow afternoon."

Chichi hung up the phone with a terrible weight in her stomach. She couldn't face him. Not after her abandoned her last time. She could still see his face in her dreams, horribly conflicted, as if he wanted to stay but knew he should go. That pain was etched on his face, she thought he would cry. She promised herself she wouldn't. He left that day and she hadn't gotten even a phone call. She would have to see him again. And for the first time in her life… she didn't want to.


	3. Chapter III

Disclaimer – I don't own Dragonball Z … but I do own your mom.

AN: Incase any of you actually read author's notes, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long. Between getting accepted to college and relatives dying, I've been slow. Sorry. So here it is: chapter three. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.

**Chapter 3**

"You're going to be late!" she yelled, helping her seven year old son into his jacket. Goten was fighting her. He obviously didn't want to wear it. Chichi frowned and looked down the hall to her oldest son's bedroom.

"Promise me you'll never be a pain in the butt," Chichi murmured in Goten's direction. He smiled and shook his head.

"Never." He said, full of confidence.

"Gohan!" she cried again, hands on her hips. The 13 year old walked of his room with a large yawn. His hair was a complete mess, but it always was. She thought that sometimes he tried to make it worse, just to seem cool. He smirked at her.

"I knew exactly what time it was."

She returned the smirk. "Sure you did." She watched Gohan as he took a drink of the orange juice she left on the table for him. She turned her gaze to Goten who was struggling with the straps of his backpack. Her heart was suddenly filled with warmth. Perhaps they had been mistakes, but they were amazing mistakes. Her favorite mistakes.

A stray thought wormed itself into her daydreams. They needed to see their father. She knew that it wouldn't be the best experience in the world, but they needed to see him. Goten has never met his father. He had left time right after conception. Goten was his momentary second of weakness. He had shown up at her door, wet. It was raining that day, she remembered. He told her that he needed her. If only for one night, he needed her. And she needed him to need her. She let him need her. And out of his need, came Goten. She doubted that he knew of Goten.

"Hey, what are you doing after school today?" she asked Gohan. He shrugged.

"What do you want me to do?"

She bit her lip. "He's awake. And I want you to go and see him."

Gohan froze. There was only one 'him' in their lives. Gohan refused to call him Dad, but more importantly refused to mention him. There had been too many missed opportunities for Gohan to really love his father. There had been too many birthdays and Christmases without a card of phone call, for Gohan to even respect his father. Gohan's features hardened and he stared into his mother's eyes. "I can't believe you just asked me that."

"Gohan-"

"I wish he were dead. I'm not going to go tell him I'm glad that he isn't."

"Gohan,"

He opened the door. As if he had summoned it, the yellow school bus pulled up. He turned to look at his mother. "He doesn't deserve my sympathy. I won't do it for him."

"Do it for me."

Gohan stared at her for a moment, then slamming the door, walked out.

Goku awoke that day to his arm being ferociously grabbed from its spot on the bed.

"Hey!" he tried to swat the perpetrator with his free hand. This was getting annoying.

"Honey, the more you move, the longer this gonna take."

Goku immediately opened his eyes. That wasn't Chichi. This wasn't his bed. This wasn't his room. He didn't recognize any of it. In a fit of blind panic, Goku wrestled away from the nurse and jumped to his feet. The blond burse stared in panic at him.

"Where am I?" He was standing to the left of the bed. He was wearing unfamiliar clothes, some sort of white dress.

"Honey, you're at St. Marks Memorial… It's a hospital."

Goku looked at the floor. It was suddenly coming back to him. As if it were a dream. Or perhaps, a dream of a dream. He looked at the nurse again. Like a child discovering the answer to a difficult question, he responded, "I'm Goku."

She nodded and breathed a sigh relief. "You gave me quite a scare, Mr. Son." She gathered up her supplies from the table next to his bed. "Here I thought I would just wake you up and give you a nice little shot." She looked up. He was staring at the window. "You know, you might want to try layin down. Might be a tick more comfortable."

He shrugged. He didn't feel like doing much anything at this point. He looked out the window again. A tall building caught his eye. He watched it for a minute longer. Somehow, he remembered being inside that building. He didn't know where he went in that building, but he could remember the smell of the elevator and the shining brass plates that showed the floor numbers. He remembered the button for 23 was more worn than all the others. He didn't know how he remembered any of this. Looking out the window more, he stared at the streets. Cars passed, pedestrians walked. He watched a car make a right on to the street and drive out of sight. A name suddenly came to him.

_Henry Road._

What was so special about that? He watched a boy stand on the corner of Henry road. He looked bored. A young girl hopped out of a store and grabbed his arm. They turned the corner and went out of sight.

There was suddenly a searing pain in Goku's temples. He fell to his knees and grabbed his head.

"_Come on!" she cried, grabbing his arm. She stood by a street sign that was marked in fading white letters that exclaimed _Henry Road. "_We're going to be late!" She was in front of him and looked back every so often to flash him a glorious smile. _

"_I'm coming." He replied smiling back at her. _

_She turned around and stopped. "You are not. You're being terribly slow. We're going to be late, you know."_

_He smiled. "You know, you weren't too concerned about being late a few minutes ago, Chichi. Remember? I believe _you're _the one who tackled _me _on to the bed…"_

_Even by the streetlight, he could tell she had turned a brilliant red. "Shut up. You're the one who started it."_

_He walked up to her and put his arms around her waist. "I just can't get enough of you." He whispered into her ear. He felt her shiver. She stayed for a moment in his arms. _

"_We should get moving." She whispered._

_He kissed the top of her head. "Dance with me."_

_She looked up at him. "What? Are you kidding? Goku, we're late as it is, and you want me to dance with you in the middle of the street?"_

"_We're on the sidewalk."_

_She frowned. "Don't be a smartass."_

"_All right."_

"_Goku …" she sighed, "Not only did you take that line from a movie, we don't have music."_

_He held on to her waist. "We can make our own music."_

_The streets were surprisingly empty for 8 o'clock at night. A few people passed by them. He held her in his arms, and she rested her head on his chest._

"_You know, it could be like this. Forever." She whispered._

"Oh Jesus! Mr. Son!" the nurse was shaking him.

Goku looked up, eyes out of focus.

The nurse took out her light and shined it in his eyes. "Pupils are reactive," she pressed her two fingers to his neck. "Pulse is normal…" she trailed off and went to Goku's bed. She took out the chart and looked at Goku. Through a series of frowns, pages flashing and a long drawn out sigh, she put the chart back by the bed, and walked up to Goku, who was still sitting on the floor.

"What was that?" he murmured, gazing up at the nurse.

"You started to remember." She replied. She offered him her hand, and he took it. She helped him back into bed. Goku sat in the bed and watched her busy herself around the room.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Mr. Son, you have a form of amnesia."

"What's that?"

The nurse bit her lip. Putting things in layman's terms was harder than it looked. "You can't remember things." She replied at last.

"I remember plenty." He retorted. "I had a wife and a family. A few years ago, Cell came to Earth. I tried to fight him, but I died. Luckily my family found the Dragonballs, but I didn't want to come home right away. See, I had to- "

"Mr. Son… that wasn't your life."

Her interruption caught him off guard. He looked to the window again. "Then who's life was it? It had to have been mine."

She sighed. "I don't know why you remember all of that. None of it happened. I'm sorry Mr. Son. Cases like these are the hardest. The pain you just felt was you remembering something," he started to interject, but she put a hand up. " from your actual life. You just remembered … well, a memory."

"Will that always happen when I remember?"

"What? The headache?"

"Yes."

The nurse shrugged. "More than likely. Until your head can wrap itself around this new reality."

She hated movement sensing doors.

If Goten hadn't been standing next to her, she would have stood outside of that hospital all day. However, Goten ran ahead of her. The doors opened for him. Gohan watched him walk through the doors. He looked at his mother.

"You do realize that I don't want to do this, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Just so you know."

They walked to the front desk as a family; Goten was standing to the right of Chichi and Gohan on the left.

"Hello." The lady at the front desk was polite and inquisitive.

"I'm here to see someone."

"Who?"

"Well, his name is … Goku."

The woman typed in her computer, clicked a few times, scowled and then finally looked up. "He's on the second floor, room two thirteen."

"Thank you."

Goten pulled at her hand. "Does that mean we get to take the elevator?"

She smiled. "Yes. We can take the elevator." Gohan stayed at her side, but with none of the child-like features of his brother. His face stayed stoic. Every so often he would glance over at his mother. The elevator ride wasn't slow enough to suit Chichi. Before she had time to wish the elevator had broken down, they were standing in front of room two thirteen. The door was closed. Suddenly, she didn't want to go in.

Hesitantly, she knocked. Once she did, she realized it was probably a stupid thing to do, if he were really sick, how would he get up from the bed to answer? While she was mentally berating herself for her stupid actions, the door opened. Chichi's breath caught in her throat.

Bulma stood at the door. A smile worked its way into her tired face. "Hello!" she cried, throwing her arms around Chichi. Chichi stood in the hallway, vacant expression on her face as Bulma continued to her hug her. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Me too," she replied quietly. Bulma released her and smiled brightly.

"He's asleep right now. But please – come in!"

Bulma ushered Chichi, Gohan and Goten into the room. Chichi's eyes stayed on the sleeping form on the bed. He was thinner than she remembered. He had a peaceful look on his face, as if he was dreaming of something good. The light green sheets were pulled up to his torso and the steady beat of heart rate monitor was the only sound in the room. Gohan took a look at his father and promptly moved himself to the window. Goten's eyes were wide and fixed on his father, a man he had never actually seen. Bulma let the family take it all in.

"How long has been awake?" Chichi asked softly. A stray lock of hair had fallen on hi face and she bit her lip to keep herself from brushing it away.

"A day or two. Not very long. He was asking for you."

"Yeah. You mentioned that."

"Chichi, there might have been something I didn't mention." Bulma's voice was full of anxiety.

Chichi tore her gaze from Goku and looked at Bulma.

"Well, see… " Bulma swallowed hard. "He doesn't really remember anything. I mean, he's dreamed up this world … and he thinks _that's_ real. He thinks like, oh … what was it? I think that you and he were married and lived in the mountains." Bulma paused to think and Chichi heard Gohan scoff loudly. "Oh yes, and he could fly. He saved the world like a million times or something. I don't know. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention. He was talking crazy. But … it's sad, Chichi. He doesn't remember anything about his life. He thinks he was living in some crazy world."

Chichi stared at Bulma. "He doesn't remember me?"

"No, he remembers you. He just thinks you guys got married."

That stung more than Chichi wanted it to. How dare he think that? He was the one who didn't want to marry her. Not even after two children.

Bulma looked at Chichi. "I think I'm going to for a walk or something. Maybe you guys could talk?" she walked out of the room without waiting for Chichi to answer.

Chichi took the chair next to Goku's bed. Gohan watched, looking quite uninterested. Goten stood next to his mother, looking worried.

"Is he dead?" Goten whispered.

Chichi shook her head. "He's sleeping."

As if on cue, Goku delivered a giant yawn and his eyelids started to flicker. Chichi's heart jumped into her throat and Gohan gripped the window curtain. Goku's eyes opened and he blinked a few times. He finally sat up and surveyed the room.

His eyes locked onto hers. "Hey," she whimpered weakly.

He didn't quite know what to say. "Hey," he repeated.

"We, um, came to see you."

At the word "we", Goku looked around the room. He looked from Gohan to Goten several times. "Gohan and Goten!" he cried. Goten smiled and nodded.

"I wasn't sure you'd remember them." Chichi whispered, confused.

"They're my children. How could I forget them?"

She heard Gohan scoff. Goku didn't. Gohan left his place at the window and went to his mother. "I've seen him. Can I go now?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Chichi could tell that comment had hurt and confused Goku. Chichi gave Gohan a disappointed look, and then nodded. Gohan took his brother's hand and led him out of the room.

Chichi stood next to the bed. Goku stared at her.

"You can sit down, if you'd like." His voice cracked as he said it. She smiled. He felt less awkward and more at home. She sat and looked straight ahead. "It's nice to see you." He said, hoping to illicit a response.

"Yes. It's nice to see you too."

"How are the boys?"

"They're fine." She looked at him briefly and then looked away again. "Gohan started high school. Goten turned seven a month ago."

"How are you?"

Chichi couldn't look at him. His tone was sincere. It wasn't a flippant question that people ask everyday, it was Goku asking her how she was. His stare cut a hole through her and she almost couldn't answer. "Fine." She whispered, trying not to cry.

"I've missed you."

"Please don't say that." She murmured, hiding her face from him.

"Why not? It's the truth. I missed you, Chichi."

He didn't get answer. She stood up, looked everywhere but his face and started cleaning up his bedside table.

"Chichi?"

She didn't answer. She tucked in the corners of his sheets, rearranged the magazines next to him in alphabetical order and made the Kleenex horizontal to him, instead of vertical. He grabbed her wrist. She wouldn't look at him.

"I missed you." He repeated.

"Don't."

"Why not? Why can't I say that? I love you."

"Don't. Please don't."

"I love you, Chichi."

"Stop!" she cried, yanking her wrist away from him. She finally looked at him. Tears were welled up in her eyes and streaming steadily down her face. "You can't just say things like that!" She bit her lip as the tears fell freely.

There was another blast of pain and Goku brought his hands to his head.

_She was playing with her necklace. She was nervous. He was tying a tie in the mirror… or at least trying to. She switched positions more than seven times in one minute, trying to get comfortable. _

"_Damn tie." He murmured. _

_Thankful for something to occupy her time, she got up off the bed and stood in front of him. She took the tie out of his hands and tied it for him._

"_Thanks." He finished buttoning his cuffs. "Why are you so nervous?"_

"_You're meeting my father… why _aren't _you nervous?"_

"_Cause people usually like me."_

"_Well, you haven't met my father."_

"_Not yet. I'm hoping to tonight, though."_

_She sat back down on the bed, wringing her hands. "I don't know if he'll like you."_

"_What's not to like?"_

"_Well, how about I'm going to have a baby out of wedlock?" She poked his chest. "Your baby."_

"_He's not going to like me because I got you pregnant?"_

"_Well, I wouldn't like you if you got my daughter pregnant."_

"_Thankfully, I'm not dating your daughter."_

_She smiled. "Come on, Goku, that's not funny. What are you going to say to him?"_

_Goku straightened himself up and started to mock her, "Hello sir! Lovely evening, isn't it? I just wanted to meet you and make sure you were one of those annoying in-laws before your daughter gives birth to my son. Out of wedlock."_

_  
Chichi smiled. "You can't just say things like that."_

"Goku? Goku, are you all right?"

She was at his side, as his head was in his hands. She had forgotten all about what he had said once he had screamed in pain and curled into a ball. He looked up at her.

"Sorry," he said, winded as if he had just finished a race.

"What was that?"

"A memory."

She looked confused. "A memory?"

"When I remember things again … it hurts. Or at least, that's what the doctor said."

"Oh." She looked up at him. "What were you thinking of?"

"Something about telling your father you were pregnant."

Chichi smiled nostalgically . "That was in our old apartment." She looked at the clock. "I've got to go."

He looked at her. "I don't want this to be the last time I see you." He took her wrist again. This time she didn't pull away.

"It won't be."

"Promise?"

She smiled softly. "I promise."

"I'm going to come see you, and the boys. You know, when I leave the hospital."

"All right." She smiled at him.

He watched her walk out of his room. He leaned back into his bed. He couldn't help but smile. No matter how he did it, he was going to get her back into his life.


	4. Chapter IV

Disclaimer – I don't own Dragonball Z. I am the proud owner of sexy underwear though….

A/N: Hello everyone. I'm really excited that a lot of you like this story. I'm really working hard on it… sorry chapters come out so slowly. I got accepted to college (Columbia College of Chicago, baby. Major: film editing) and I'll be going there in the fall. I just thought I'd share some good news with my lovely lovely readers. I'll hopefully get some more writing done now, since college aps are now behind me.

Thanks for sticking around!

**Convalescence**

"Goku, you son of a bitch!"

The door swung open and a small bald headed man waltzed into the room as if he owned it.

Goku sat up in bed. He waved. "Hello."

The bald man smirked. "You son of a bitch!" He walked over to the bed and smacked Goku in the arm. He shook his head. "We thought you'd never wake up." The bald man set his coat on the chair next to the bed and then fixed his watch. He mumbled something about the time.

Goku watched him with interest. The bald man finished setting his watch and looked up at Goku. He smiled crookedly, "Well? Aren't you going to say somethin'?"

"Hello."

The bald man laughed. "You already said that." He picked up a briefcase off of the floor and took a stack of papers and a pad of paper out. He handed it all to Goku. "Now that you've stopped counting sheep, we've got a big job to do. Start by analyzing these figures, kay? If I'm going to be your partner, you've gotta start pulling your weight."

Goku stared at the pile of papers on his lap. "What do I do with these?"

The bald man stopped shuffling papers and looked up. "What the hell d'you mean, 'what do I do with these' … you do your job."

"And … what is that again?"

"Well, you're not going to fucking have one anymore if you don't get your ass moving."

"There's no need to swear."

The bald man looked at Goku as if he sprouted twelve heads. "Who are you? Are you Goku king of the cuss words? You know more ways to use the word 'fuck' than the dictionary."

Goku just looked confused.

The bald man ran a hand through his nonexistent hair. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He muttered, looking at the floor. "I thought Bulma was kidding."

As if on cue, the blue haired beauty walked through the door. "Good morning Goku." She sipped her mug of coffee and glanced at the bald man. "Morning, Krillin."

"Morning, Bulma." She nodded her response as she took a long sip of her coffee.

Goku smiled. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you, Krillin! Man … what a way to treat my best friend."

Bulma promptly spit her coffee across the room and Krillin's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Goku just looked confused.

"Your _what_?" Krillin asked, almost speechless. But not quite. "You think I'm friends with you? I only brought your work so you won't bankrupt the company. We're partners, not friends. I don't know where the fuck you got that idea, cause I swear to God, I want nothing to do with you, you overgrown monkey. I just didn't want you ruining my career!"

Bulma gave Krillin a seething look. "Would you just shut up, you little hairless pygmy?"

Goku looked at Bulma, already defeated. "I'm assuming that this is different too."

"Well … it depends. What did you think Krillin was?"

"My best friend."

"Yes. Way different." Krillin answered for Bulma, and received a smack on the back of his bald head.

"You're not exactly best friends," Bulma said, obviously trying to break it gently.

"We're not really friends at all." Krillin interjected.

"You're more like … competitors."

Goku shook his head. "He said we were partners."

"Well … yes. You are partners. At your firm. You work together."

"That doesn't mean you're better than me." Krillin cut in.

"_Goku, Krillin, I need you in my office."_

_Krillin and Goku in adjacent desks as CEO Roshi delivered them that statement. Both of them quickly nodded and schemed._

"_He's probably going to fire you." Krillin said, handing Goku a box. "Better pack up your things."_

"_Fuck that." Goku replied. "He's going to fire you. He probably heard you wasted 18 shares." _

"_Those were nothing compared to the money you lost on that fucking ridiculous move with the A.E. stock. What a joke."_

"_Well, let's find out."_

_The men made their way down the hall. They were the only ones in the office, but that wasn't unusual. They usually stayed late trying to get the edge on each other. The other cubicles were eerily empty as the made their way to the CEO's office. After a brief knock, they were let in._

"_Sit down, boys." Roshi grinned as he sat behind his large mahogany desk. The gold plaque proclaiming his name sat in the front. Master Roshi, CEO DragonStock Inc._

"_Hello sir." Krillin responded. "Lovely tie."_

"_Stop being a kiss-ass, Krillin" Roshi snapped._

_Goku smirked. "You tell him, sir. You don't need a midget to tell you how good you look."_

"_You too, Goku._ _You both need to get laid before you make out with each other."_

_Goku and Krillin laughed nervously and shot evil glances at the other. _

"_The reason I brought you boys here, wasn't to hear you two tell me how good I look. I know that already, I don't need you punks to tell me that. I called you here to tell you something important." Roshi took a dramatic pause to fix his sunglasses. "I'm retiring."_

"_You're what!"_

"_Retiring, Krillin. Get your ears checked. I'm tired of running this company. I've got a house on an island that's got my name all over it. Gonna go have some sweet solitude. And I was thinking … who should I make my successor? Who deserves it? Well, you two instantly came to mind."_

"_Sir, we can finish this conversation without Krillin. I don't want to rub it in his face that I'm going to be the new CEO."_

"_Stop jumping the gun, Goku. That's why you're not going to be the CEO."_

"_Ha!"_

"_You're not going to be the CEO either, Krillin."_

"_Well, then, sir. Who is going to be the new CEO?"_

"_You two are going to share it. Joint CEOs."_

_Goku and Krillin sat in their chairs, stunned. _

"_So now you two either work together or you ruin this multimillion dollar company. The choice is yours. Now, leave my office."_

_The two left the office in a stunned silence. They reached their desks and quietly sat down. Goku stared at his computer screen, the cursor blinking waiting for him to type. _

"_Hey," a murmur came from Krillin and Goku looked up. "This doesn't mean you're better than me."_

When he regained consciousness, he was on the floor. He looked up to see a foreign emotion in Krillin's eyes. He saw fear.

"You … okay?"

Goku coughed. "Yeah." He got up and walked back to his bed. "Just a memory."

"So you've got some sort of amnesia?"

"I guess so."

Bulma helped him get back into bed and pulled the sheets over him. She moved the papers off the bed and dropped them on the floor. Dust flew up and stayed suspended in the air until gradually floating down. Goku coughed.

"You should probably go, Krillin." Bulma said, opening the door to Goku's room.

"Yeah. I … um … guess I'll be back, Goku."

"You should visit me again, Krillin. I'll look forward to it!"

Krillin waved goodbye awkwardly and walked out the door. Bulma walked out after him and shut the door.

"Now tell me: when your growth was stunted, was your common sense stunted too?" She hissed.

Krillin scowled. "How the hell was I supposed to know that he's a fucking head case?"

"Cause I called you to tell you!"

"I thought you were joking!"

"Well, I wasn't."

Krillin sat down in a plastic chair. It squeaked with the weight. "Jesus." He ran a hand over his bald head. "Why did he think we were best friends?"

Bulma sat down next to him. "He had a dream while he was in a coma. It was sort of a … Wizard of Oz, thing. Everyone he knew was in it. But we were… we were all something different. In this dream, he was, like Superman, you know? He saved the world like a billion times. He could fly."

Krillin laughed. "He could fly? He is a head case."

"Well, the point is, he thinks this was real. I mean, he was married to Chichi in the dream, for God's sake."

"No shit? That's pretty screwed up."

"He thought you two were best friends. I mean, I know you grew up together - "

"Not together. Just near each other."

"Ok fine. But he thought you two were best friends your whole lives. It's like … he's taken every relationship he's ever had with anyone, and just made it a good one. I mean, he told me that you two were inseparable."

Krillin scoffed.

"Well, I told you he was delusional." Bulma said in her own defense.

"No kidding. We're not friends. We're rivals. At best."

"Well no kidding, Krillin. I know. It's not like I though you two were best friends or anything."

Krillin sighed. He slouched in the plastic chair making an inexcusably loud squeak. His face was contorted in concentration. "It's not like I _hate_ him." He said, breaking the silence as if he were confessing to a crime.

Bulma raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"I mean, he's just always been competition," Krillin continued, keeping his eye contact on the hospital wall like it was going to move. "He's good at what he does. He's _always_ been good at _everything_ he does. He doesn't have to try. I mean, you know."

"I know." She responded.

"It's just not fair."

She turned to him. "So you're mad cause he's good?"

Krillin sat up and furrowed his brow, looking at Bulma disapprovingly. "No. I'm mad cause he gets _everything_. Without working for it. He's the poster boy for a fucking silver spoon up his ass."

"Ok, his grandpa was rich. So what?"

"So what? Bulma, anything Goku wanted in his life, he got. He went to a snotty prep school, a snotty Ivy League college and got a snotty internship right out of college." Krillin slouched in his chair. "Me? I had to work my ass off in high school. I'm still paying off my Ivy League loans and I worked for two years as a waiter so I could get somewhat out of debt." Krillin gestured towards Goku's room. "He gets everything."

"Not everything."

Krillin looked up, intrigued.

"He didn't get the girl." Bulma pointed out.

-- --- -- --- -- --- -- ---

Gohan sat at the table watching his mother eat. Hands folded across his chest, perpetually glaring, scowling… it was enough to make anyone nervous. His mother gave him a chilly look from across the table.

"Stop it, Gohan." She said, scooping vegetables onto Goten's plate. The 8 year old frowned as he watched copious amounts of broccoli fall onto his mashed potato mountain.

"Stop _what_, Mom?" Gohan answered his mother with a condescending tone.

"I don't need you judging me."

"I'm not judging you."

"So giving me the cold shoulder is what you _like_ to do."

"You'll forgive me," Gohan sneered. "You forgave Dad for a lot worse. You forgive him for everything. Even screwing you over."

The spoon Chichi was holding fell to the table and make a loud _clank._ A piece of broccoli fell to the floor. Goten watched the vegetable fall with more interest than he gave to the ongoing fight at the table. Chichi's jaw clenched.

"Gohan, that was uncalled for."

"No, forcing me to see him was uncalled for." Gohan shot back.

"You're going to hold that over my head? I wanted you to go see your father, who has been in a coma for three year. I'm such a bad mother."

Gohan rolled his eyes. "How naïve."

"Hey!" Chichi barked, getting Gohan's attention. "I am still your mother, and I will not talked to like this in my house. You do not talk to me that way. I don't care how much you hate your father."

Gohan was grinding his teeth together to keep from crying. Tears of frustration welled up in his eyes.

A moment of silence passed between mother and son.

"I can't forgive him." Gohan whispered, fighting back tears.

"I know."

"How can you?"

Chichi opened her mouth to speak when the door opened.

"Hey!" a voice called out. "You all home?"

Chichi bit her lip; Gohan looked away. Seeing that no more progress would happen tonight, Chichi took a deep breath. "In here." She called back.

Goten looked up from building the perfect mashed potato mountain with adjoining broccoli forest to greet the visitor. "Yamcha!" he cried, leaping out of his chair into Yamcha's waiting arms.

"Hey buddy!" Yamcha put him down and looked from Gohan to Chichi. "Everything okay?"

After a lingering glance to Gohan, Chichi forced a smile to Yamcha. "Everything's fine."

Yamcha smiled and looked at Gohan. "How are you, Gohan? You okay?"

Gohan smiled genuinely at Yamcha as if the entire screaming match had not happened. "I'm great Yamcha. You gonna stay for dinner?"

"If your mom lets me." Yamcha cast a theatrical sidelong glance at Chichi.

She smiled softly. "Of course. I'll get another plate." She got up and walked to the cabinet. Yamcha followed her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure you're okay?" he whispered in her ear.

Chichi bit her lip before turning around with her façade ready. She smiled brightly. "I'm perfect."

Yamcha returned her smile. "Good." He leaned down and kissed her softly, arms slowly wrapping around her waist.

He broke the kiss and smiled. "And how is my fiancée today?"

* * *

Oooooh the cliffhanger. Wait… does this qualify as a cliffhanger? I'm going to assume it is.  
Hopefully you'll stick around for the next chapter, which hopefully won't take a million years. 

Love you all, thank you soooo much for the support.

PimpMasta Popo.


	5. Chapter V

Disclaimer – I don't own Dragonball Z… but I've got it on lay-away, so it should be mine once I scrounge up the money.

A/N: Aw, you guys are nice. Thanks for all of the reviews! I love you guys! I had been taking a break from writing, but I'm back in the creative spirit, now that I'm in college. I'm just surrounded by some really talented people and they inspire me to write.

**Convalescence**

"And how is my fiancée today?" Yamcha asked.

She smiled back. "I'm fine."

"Stressful day?"

"No," she turned away from him and opened a drawer. She grabbed a knife and fork before looking at him again. "Why do you ask?"

Yamcha's brow furrowed. "You just look stressed."

She shook her head and forced a smile.

Yamcha chuckled. "And you won't look me in the eye."

As if to prove him wrong, Chichi looked up from getting a glass from the cupboard. She looked at Yamcha like a child forced to own up to a mistake. She smiled, this one genuine. She handed him the plate and silverware. "I am fine. I had a stressful day. The boys are being unruly." She explained it like a list and emphasized it, making each one sound like it would end the world. She needed him to believe her.

He believed her. Smiling, he took the plate, gave her a quick peck on the lips and sat down at the table. Chichi stood at the stove and turned down the pot of mashed potatoes until the burner was warm. She watched Yamcha ask Gohan how his day was, and Gohan respond enthusiastically. He was more of a father than Goku ever was… or could be. Gohan loved him, Goten loved him, and her father loved him. Everyone loved him. It was her that had the problem.

Things hadn't been the same since she postponed the wedding. It wasn't totally her fault. This was the second time their wedding had been postponed. The first time, Yamcha had postponed it. His mother had recently died and he went into a state of blind panic and confusion. He suddenly forgot how to function. He wasn't close to his mother, at all. And that's what she figured led him into that incurable state. The regret. He told her that he didn't know who he was anymore. He told her he loved her more than anything, but he couldn't commit the rest of his life with her, if he didn't know who he was. She nodded and said she understood. She threw away the wedding invitations, put the wedding dress back the closet, threw herself on her bed and cried.

"Are you coming back to the table?" His question broke her daydream. She smiled. Yamcha smiled back.

"Of course."

She sat back down. Gohan asked for Yamcha to pass the chicken. Yamcha waited for the correct ending of the sentence. Rolling his eyes, Gohan added 'please' but added it with a smile and laugh. Goten made a mashed potato mountain and asked Chichi to spoon the gravy lava.

They had somehow become a functioning family.

------

The sky was impossibly blue, Yamcha noticed. Not just a pretty color, but an impossible shade of light blue. It looked like something right out of a novel. Or a movie. He couldn't decide which. He was sitting outside in a trendy café in the city. The tables outside had umbrellas that were a neutral shade of brown. The chairs and tables were the same color of brown. It was if the café wanted to just dissolve into the earth. With every gentle breeze, the paper napkins on the table threatened to fly away. Yamcha wasn't focused on the décor. He started hopelessly into the sky, transfixed.

"Is there a reason we're staring at the sky?" The woman with the lovely blue hair asked with an amused grin.

Yamcha looked up, smiled and stood to greet his guest. "Bulma, you're late. And I was admiring the day. It's nice."

They quickly hugged and sat back down.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Too many things going on to name."

"Go ahead. Name them. I've got time."

Bulma smiled her thanks. A waiter came back, dropped off two glasses of water a promptly left.

"Yamcha, you're sweet. But the shit I've got going on will only pile on top of your shit…"

"I'm pretty shit-free right now, Bulma."

Bulma looked up from the menu to give Yamcha a quizzical glare. "Really? I figured you'd be knee deep." She shrugged.

Yamcha laughed. "Why's that?"

Bulma started at Yamcha incredulously. "Goku."

Yamcha stared blankly at Bulma. "…is in a coma?" he finished for her.

Bulma let out a short burst of laughter, and then shook her head. "Oh god, I'm sorry, Yamcha." He tone turned serious, and her gaze concerned. "I thought you knew. I thought she would have told you."

"Told me what?"

"Goku… he's awake."

Yamcha looked down at the table, trying to pretend the news didn't affect him. "Well." He swallowed, hoping that would make him look more nonchalant. "Good."

"I'm sorry, Yamcha. I thought Chichi would've told you."

"Yeah. Well." Yamcha forced himself to look up at Bulma. "The best laid plans."

Bulma smiled sympathetically. "I'm really sorry I broke the news to you before she had the chance. I'm sure it's just because she hasn't had the chance." She was covering for Chichi.

"Of course. I'm her fiancée. Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Exactly. I mean, this is pretty giant news. She probably didn't want to tell you just any old way."

Yamcha sat in silence for a moment. He chewed on his bottom lip. "I saw her last night. But we were with Gohan and Goten. She probably didn't want them to know so soon." He was speaking aloud but to no one in general.

Luckily, he didn't notice Bulma furrow her brow. Chichi had told the kids. Chichi had taken them to visit Goku. So why was she hiding the news from Yamcha?

------

This was new and unfamiliar. Not to say that everything he had been experiencing was new and unfamiliar. But taking a look at the black pants, white button-up shirt, black socks, black shoes, black suit coat and long skinny tie… this was just too weird.

Goku stood in his hospital room. After spending a week in the hospital, he'd actually forgotten about regular clothes, much less dressing himself. He tried to search his memory for the last time he wore these clothes. There were no flashes of pain and no reveries. He was somewhat disappointed.

The pants were easy. He remembered how to put on pants. He wasn't that far gone. He wasn't dumb, just a convalescent. He put the shirt on after the pants. The white shirt was pressed and clean. He tucked the tails of the shirt into his pants. He grabbed the tie. He put it around his neck. He stood in the room, next to the bed for a long moment. He didn't remember how to tie a tie. He held both ends in his hands and looked down at them feeling an odd sense of failure. Deciding to forgo the tie, he put on the socks, shoes and suit coat.

His back to the door, he didn't see, or hear, Bulma come in. She was leaning on the frame, smiling.

"You look good." She commented.

He turned around and smiled. "Thanks." He looked down at his clothes. "Is this what I usually wear?"

"Most times."

He held up the limp ends of the tie. "I don't remember."

She smiled and walked to him. She tied it slowly and deliberately, so he could repeat the motions later. "Looks nice, now. Doesn't it?"

"Sure."

"So. Where do you think you're going?" she asked with a smirk. "Last time I checked, you weren't going to be released from the hospital for quite some time. Another week, at least." She sat down in the chair next to his bed. It squeaked as she sat on it. Goku stood facing her.

"I can't be here anymore. Plus, I feel fine."

"Well, I'm sure you do. But they need to run tests."

"I'm tired of tests, Bulma. I just want to get my life back."

Bulma frowned. "How are you going to get your life back if you don't even know who you are?"

Goku frowned at her and turned toward the bed.

Bulma sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a bitch. But come on, Goku." She stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't know anything about your life."

"I'm learning."

"I know. But, you think things are so different."

"Just… take me to my house. I think that'll help me remember things."

"I can't take you out of this hospital."

Goku turned and faced her. "I'm not staying here anymore. I'm done recovering. I'm fine. I want my life back."

There was a moment of silence, and Goku could tell Bulma was sizing him up. She bit her lip and let out a graceful sigh. "I'll go get the release forms."

--------

He stood at the door for quite some time. Bulma stood behind him, patiently waiting for him to get the courage to open the door.

He stood at the door waiting for a memory to strike. He stared at the number 816 for what it seemed like was an eternity. He was sure he had them burned in his memory by now. He couldn't figure out why this didn't trigger a memory. He stood with coat draped over his arms, staring at his own door. Where were the memories?

"Give me the key."

Bulma warily handed it to him.

He forced the key in the lock and heard a gentle click. His apartment was unlocked. He had no clue what he'd find inside.

The door slowly opened as if in a horror film. He stepped in the doorway and instinctively reached out on his left side. He felt the light switch and turned it on. Light flooded the room.

"_So, this is your place" Chichi stood in the doorway. There was an unsure smile on her face._

"_Yeah. This is it."_

_She looked around, unable to meet his eyes. "Neat."_

_She walked in a few steps from the doorway. Goku set his keys down on the table next to the door and stood in front of her. _

_His arms wrapped around her waist. "You still wanna come in? Or are you going to stand in the doorway all night?" As he spoke, he leaned down closer to her._

_She smiled and kissed him. _

This time, the memory didn't cause a full fledged attack. Goku winced and held onto the door frame for support. Bulma watched him carefully, with a comforting hand on his back.

The carpet was dark blue. Or black. No, definitely dark blue. The walls were painted a light blue, like the sky on a clear summer day. There were nondescript paintings placed with care on the walls. There were multiple rooms, most of which he couldn't see, but he assumed. He walked in on the living room, with its multiple shades of blue. There was a couch placed, with its back to one wall, and a TV and stereo placed on the opposite side. Walking in further, he found a kitchenette to his right and another room to his left. He saw the foot of a bed to his left.

"So. This is where I live."

"Yep."

"Is that my bedroom?" he pointed into the room.

"Yeah."

"I sleep there?"

"…Goku, you have amnesia. You're not retarded."

"Look, I'm just making sure, okay?"

"Okay."

Goku walked into the bedroom and stood at the foot of the bed. He leaned over and softly touched the comforter.

"_You're sure this is what you want?" He spoke calmly, but he was having a hard time keeping himself propped up. _

_Chichi was lying on his bed, her arms wrapped around his neck. She was breathing heavily. Her hair was mussed, and her shirt partially unbuttoned. She stared back at Goku, her eyes intense. "What?"_

"_Are you sure? Cause… we can stop." He offered the suggestion hoping she would tell him full steam ahead. Cause that's what he really wanted._

"_Am I sure?"_

_They were inches away from each other, both of them struggling for breath and composure after their intense making out. Somehow the kiss goodnight turned into the French kiss goodnight. And somehow that moved to her straddling him on the couch and somehow they had moved to his bed. Now, Chichi was on her back, arms around his neck. He propped himself off of her. From the waist down, they were entangled. In the dark, it would have been hard to tell her legs from his. _

"_Yeah… are you sure?"_

"…_Are you kidding?" Chichi smiled and laughed breathlessly. _

_Goku let the weight off of his arms and eased himself down, their mouths joining in a passionate kiss._

"_You" kiss. "know" kiss. "what" kiss. "this" kiss. "means" kiss. "for" kiss. "us." kiss._

_Chichi smiled and broke the kiss. "Why are you talking? I just agreed to have sex with you and you want to write the next great American novel."_

"_I'm not writing anything. I was speaking."_

"_Why are you arguing with me and not kissing me?"_

_Goku chuckled. "Excellent question" He started at her mouth, then placed a delicate trail of kisses down her neck. He made quick work of her clothes and his. _

"_I love you," she murmured before he kissed her again after removing his own pants. He pulled away. She noticed he had a pained look on his face. She sighed. "I didn't say it so you'd say it back, ok?"_

"_Ok."_

"_Goku, I'm serious."_

"_I know."_

"_I don't care if you say it back."_

"_Ok."_

_She could feel him slipping away. "I take it back." She blurted out. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable._

_He pulled away even more. "What?"_

"_I take it back."_

"_You can't."_

"_What do you mean I can't?"_

"_You can't."_

"_Yes I can."_

"_No. You can't. You told me you loved me."_

"_I know. I was there."_

"_So, stand by it. You love me, right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Ok. Good." He coughed and looked away. "Me too, I guess."_

_Her face lit up. He smirked with he saw her grin. "What?" he asked, rolling his eyes._

"_You love me." She teased._

_  
"What are you, four?"_

"_You love me, and you want to have sex with me."_

"_Ok, that's what I was trying to do before you pulled out that 'I love you' shit."_

"_You love me, and you want to have sex with me, because you love me."_

_He couldn't help but smile. As he leaned down and resumed his actions, he couldn't help but think that this was absolutely perfect. _

He regained consciousness on his bed, sprawled out. He looked up and found Bulma at the foot of the bed. "What happened?"

She sighed. "Well, you had an attack. I moved you to the bed." She sat on the edge of the bed. "It seemed like a painful one."

"It was about Chichi." He responded, his voice deadpan.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Was it… a good one?"

"Well…yeah." Goku sat up and sighed. He looked at his blue bedspread and traced the stitches with his index finger. "I love her."

"Goku…"

"No, Bulma. I love her. I want to be with her."

"Goku…"

"Bulma, there is nothing you can tell me that will stop me from marching over to her house right now and taking her in my arms and telling her I love her."

"Goku…"

"What!?"

"… she has a fiancée. She's going to get married in three months."


	6. Chapter VI

Disclaimer – I don't own it. If I did, I would fill a pool with money and swim in it like Scrooge McDuck.

A/N: tsk tsk. I am such a bad little fanfic author. This chapter had been halfway done for like four months! But now it's complete and out for your reading pleasure!

p.s. I changed the rating from T to M. It's basically because I drop the 'f' bomb several times throughout this story, so M is probably more of an appropriate rating.

**Convalescence**

"That's impossible."

"No. It's not impossible. It's completely feasible. And actually, Goku, it's a little something called reality."

Goku looked up at Bulma from his seat on the bed. "I'm recovering from amnesia. Aren't you supposed to be nice to me?"

"You know, what? Fuck being nice, Goku. Being nice only gets you so far." She replied, with a scowl.

"Bulma,"

"Look Goku, I could sugar-coat everything for you, or I can tell you everything straight out." She took a look at her watch. "If you want to remain in your fairytale life, then far be it from me to pull you out of it." She turned and faced him, her face stern. "But let me tell you something. This person, this hero, this fictional character you made up for yourself… it's just that. Fiction. What you actually are, is this larger than life badass who doesn't take no for an answer, and right now you're being a pussy."

Goku stared at Bulma, his brow furrowed. "Jeez."

"Goku," Bulma sat at the end of the bed, a few feet away from Goku. "If you want Chichi. Go get her."

He picked out his nicest suit. He wasn't what you would call vain, but Goku had to admit he did look pretty damn nice. The slacks were tailored and cut him just at the right points. He put on a white collard shirt, but took a miss on the tie. He wanted to impress her.

Bulma drove him to her house. She kept giving him nervous glances, while simultaneously trying not to hit oncoming traffic. They pulled up at her house, and without a word, Goku got out of the car.

He held a bouquet of flowers in his hand, because he had this nagging feeling that someone had once told him never to arrive to someone else's house empty-handed.

Goku took a deep breath as he heard Bulma's car drive away. He looked at the house in front of him. The grass was cut, recently even. There were patches of flowers near the house. Even at dusk, their colors seemed to pop. The black door sat in between walls of ivory, begging Goku to knock on it.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, walked up the sidewalk and knocked on the door.

He heard a scurry of activity. The door opened.

The last thing Goku saw, an angry fist had collided with his face. As he welcomed the blackness that surrounded him, he heard an angry growl and someone yelled 'Dammit Karkarott!'

V-v-v-v-v-v-v-V

He was awake before he opened his eyes. He listened hard to the activity around him. He swallowed thickly. _Please let me be home. _He opened his eyes and saw a patch of blue fabric to a couch he didn't recognize. He closed his eyes again. _Please let me be home._ He heard footsteps and heavy breathing. He felt a face near him, and he opened his eyes a bit to see.

Goten backed away quickly when Goku opened his eyes. Goku looked at his surroundings. His heart sunk. He didn't recognize anything. This wasn't home. It wasn't a dream.

"Mom!" Goten screamed and ran out of the room. Goku licked his dry lips and tried to sit up.

He felt a hand on his back that helped him sit upright. He looked up. Chichi was avoiding his gaze. She held an ice pack. It seemed like she was looking at every inch of skin around his eye, but not directly into it.

"It's not swelling." She murmured. She brought the icepack down on his left eye, clouding his vision. "That's good." She didn't look him in the eye.

"What happened?" Goku asked her.

"Hold this on your eye." She started to remove the ice pack. Goku's hand flew up to it, catching hers in the process. Chichi closed her eyes as he held her hand to the ice pack. "Let go." She whispered, her eyes opening and staring at a spot on the wall. She wouldn't look at him.

"Chichi,"

"Please." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Goku heard her loud and clear.

"Unhand her, you filthy swine." The voice was cold and unfeeling. And as Goku looked up, he realized it belonged to Vegeta.

The short man was leaning in the doorway, black eyes glaring at Goku, snarling.

Goku did as he was told, but not before giving Vegeta a hard stare of his own. Goku turned to Chichi. "I'm assuming this isn't good."

"Good?" Vegeta spat incredulously. "Nothing you ever do is good, Kakarott. And I swear if you touch my sister one more time, I won't knock you out, I'll kill you."

Goku's mouth fell open and he looked from Chichi to Vegeta. He gulped. "Sis… Sister?"

Chichi wiped her hands on her pants. "Goku, this is my step-brother, Vegeta."

"We've met." Vegeta hissed.

"Would you give us a moment?" Chichi asked, turning her gaze to Vegeta. "Please." She added.

Vegeta gave Goku an intimidating glare as he left the room.

Neither Goku nor Chichi said anything for a very long moment.

"I had flowers," Goku looked around the blue couch that was absent of any sort of flowers. "I don't know where they went, but I brought you flowers."

"They're probably outside. Vegeta hit you before you could go much anywhere."

"Oh."

Their conversation died. Goku sat, trying to rack his brain for something to say.

"What were you doing here?" Chichi asked. She slowly came to the couch and sat on the opposite end, leaving a few feet in between them.

"Well, I wanted to give you flowers." He turned his head and saw she wasn't looking at him. "And I wanted to tell you that I was going to fight for you."

She looked at him, surprise and pain etched on her pretty face. He turned away from her.

"If there's a fight, if there's a competition, I want to be in it. I know now, that my life with you was a dream. But," he stopped for a moment, trying hard to make the right words come out. Chichi watched him with baited breath. "It may have been a dream. But it's possible." He looked at her again. "It's possible to have that life with you. I want that life back."

Chichi's lips parted in surprise. Her chest rose and fell and her eyes widened. She turned away from him.

"I don't know if that's possible anymore, Goku."

"Let me try."

She looked at him.

"Please, just … let me try." He was pleading now.

"Ok."

v-v-v-v-v

Goku held the ice pack to his eye as he reached for the door handle of Chichi's house.

"Kakarott."

He turned and saw Vegeta, looking stern behind him.

"They say you've forgotten everything."

Goku was immediately defensive. "Yeah. That's right."

"Well apparently you haven't forgotten to hurt my sister."

"Let her make her own choices, Vegeta." The disdain in his voice was foreign to him, but somehow it felt right. He let the words flow out and liked the way they seemed to puncture Vegeta's pride.

"The last time she made her own choices, she had another one of your bastards. She can't be trusted to make her own choices when you're involved."

"Scared of competition?" Goku let the insult spill out of his mouth without realizing what he meant. Vegeta straightened.

"I've knocked you out before, Kakarott. I will do it again." Vegeta narrowed his eyes and looked Goku up and down. He scoffed. "It wouldn't take much effort."

Pictures filtered through Goku's mind like he watching a projector.

_Goku looked up. "Vegeta." He nodded his greeting and added a smirk as the shorter man walked into the room. _

"_Kakarott." Vegeta returned, without making eye contact. He looked at Chichi. "If you're going to bring this overgrown monkey into the house, make him take a shower."_

"_Vegeta," Chichi's voice was calming, but had an edge of warning to it and she sat down next to Goku on the couch. Goku smirked and put an arm around her. _

_Vegeta said nothing, but stared the couple on the couch. "Done anything useful, lately, Kakarott? You know, father any bastard children?"_

"_Vegeta!" Chichi looked hurt. _

_Goky rolled his eyes and pretended to be unaffected by any of Vegeta's comments. "No, it's fine Chichi." He looked at the shorter man. "You know, we've been out of high school for some time, Vegeta. You can stop calling me Kakarott anytime you want."_

"_What's wrong, Kakarott? You don't like the nickname the football team gave you?" Vegeta was smiling, sneering at him._

"_I just don't have much respect for the football team." Goku looked at him. "I mean, they let you on, so they obviously don't have a height requirement." Goku's smiled widened as he saw the sadistic smile slide off of Vegeta's face. "I don't really take an insult from a troupe of midgets very seriously."_

_Vegeta's fists balled up. "You don't want to mess with me, Kakarott."_

"_Why, cause you knock people out for a living? How great, Vegeta. I make money, with a real job."_

"_Being a professional boxer is a real job, you idiot."_

"_Oh yeah? Well, if you call dancing around a ring with a guy all day a job, then yeah. I guess you are definitely a professional homosexual."_

_Vegeta would have lunged at him if Chichi hadn't stood up. "I think we should leave, Goku."_

_Goku smirked. "Yeah. Let's go."_

Vegeta watched with interest as Goku looked wildly around the room and held on to the wall. His eyes eventually darted to Vegeta.

"You're a boxer." He stated.

Vegeta scoffed. "Welcome back to Earth, Kakarott."

Goku straightened and grabbed the door handle. "I'm going to fight for her, Vegeta." He opened the door and started to walk out.

"You'll have to fight me first, Kakarott. I've stood by and watched you fuck up too many times."

Goku turned. "I'll fight you. I'll fight you for her. She's worth it."

Vegeta said nothing and closed the door.

V-v-v-v-v-v-v-V

Goku had just sat down on his own bed when he heard a knock on the door. He wearily walked to the front of his apartment and opened it.

Bulma stood, wide-eyed and hopeful. "So?"

"So?"

"What happened?" The blue haired beauty walked into the apartment and sat down on the couch as if he had invited her in. She looked up at him as he closed the door. "Oh shit!"

"What?"

"Your eye!"

"Yeah." Goku sat down on a chair across from the couch. "You know, I know I'm new to all of this…" he looked up at her. "But you could have warned me that Vegeta was probably going to punch my lights out."

Bulma looked sheepish. "I didn't think he was going to be there. I'm sorry. He's usually training or touring. He's a boxer, you know."

"No kidding."

Bulma looked at his eye. "You want some ice for that?"

"No, it's fine."

She leaned back on the couch. "So, you ran into Vegeta. Did you even get to see Chichi?"

"Yeah."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Well I'm glad you haven't forgotten your conversational skills. You still know how to keep a gal entertained."

Goku looked up as if he was roused from a dream. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"So, why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Well, Vegeta punched me, and he knocked me out. Before I could even talk to her. So, next thing I know, I wake up inside the house on a couch. She gave me some ice. And I told her that I wanted a shot. I told her I wanted her back."

Bulma looked at him interestedly. "And?"

"She agreed. She told me I could fight for her."

Bulma pounded her fist on the couch and smiled. "That's great!"

"Yeah." Goku breathed and hung his head. "Now I just have to get past Vegeta, her fiancé and the fact that my oldest son hates me."

She smiled. "What, you aren't up for the challenge?"

He looked up and saw her smirk. It spread to him and small smile broke onto his face. "Bulma, I live for a challenge."

She nodded happily. "Absolutely."

V-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-V

There it is guys and dolls. Gloves are off, most all of my characters are introduced. Now we get into it!

Thanks for sticking it out!


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